


Little Shippers

by LuNaLoverAlex



Category: Supernatural
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Cuteness overload, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, M/M, Teacher!Dean, hella lot of kids, teacher!Castiel, teacher!au, these two are just adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2018-12-17 23:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11862303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuNaLoverAlex/pseuds/LuNaLoverAlex
Summary: There's a new teacher at the elementary Dean works at. How is he supposed to deal with this new (and admittedly really hot) teacher? Especially when the dude can't function in the mornings and is the only one nice enough to help him with recess and lunch duty. And did he mention that the dude is freaking hot AND adorable? How is he supposed to even?





	1. 1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: It’s official… I’ve been completely encompassed by Supernatural… It’s not every day that I write a fanfiction, but I seen the idea of this on pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/303781937352190847/) and just couldn't NOT write it. I ended up using it as a base line and fluffed it around the edges, adding my own lil twists here and there.
> 
> I decided to post this first chapter in the spirit of the back to school season. I was gonna wait until I finished all the chapters, but said screw it cause I really want to know other people’s feedback on this. In other words, it may be a while before each chapter… that and the fact that it’s back to school season and I’m still a student, so yeaaaaah that doesn’t help...

The sound of pen scratching on paper and the smell of coffee was Dean’s only company as he got ready for the rest of the day.

 

He shuffled his papers around and stood from his desk right as the bell rang. Bracing himself for the incoming onslaught, he opened his door and toed the little rubber wedge underneath to keep it from closing again.

 

The door left to his opened, an older woman with brunette hair and a jean jacket over her blouse stepped out, following his example and placing a wedge under her own door. The door itself was identical to his except for it’s decorations. Where his was somewhat plain, with a name tag and a counting chart, hers had a paper tree adorned with many colorful leaves. Each leaf had a name, but what really stood out was the bold and swirly name at the top that read  _ Mrs. Harvelle _ .

 

The two exchanged nods of greeting before the sounds of a crowd of tiny voices broke the peace of the morning. Children turned the corners into the hall and made their way to their respective classrooms. Some called for Mrs. Harvelle and Mr. Balthazar, who had just opened his door across the hall from Dean’s.

 

One little boy called for Dean, giving him a hug around his thighs for that was as high as his little arms could reach. Dean chuckled, ruffling the little boy’s dark hair. “Mornin’ Ben,” he greeted before the boy continued into the classroom.

 

Children continued to file through for a few more minutes, dissipating before the next bell rung. Dean and the other teachers took the wedges from their doors and continued on with their routines.

 

***

 

The morning was fairly uneventful and before Dean knew it, it was time to escort everyone to lunch. Being the one that was elected to chaperone during lunch and recess this year, he was obligated to accompany the little tikes to lunch and recess  _ every day  _ of the current school year. 

 

It wasn’t long into lunch when one of the administrators came up to Dean, along with a man he didn’t recognize.

 

“Mr. Shurley,” Dean said with a forward tilt of his head in greeting. “Please, I’ve told you that you can call me Chuck,” the shorter man sighed, “anyways, I’m here to introduce you to Castiel Novak, the new first grade teacher. I was just giving him a tour.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes at Chuck, although this stranger had peaked his interest. “Castiel, huh? That’s an interesting name…” Dean commented, offering his hand to shake. Castiel took it with a firm grasp. “Yes, I guess it is. And yours would be?” he asked, locking eyes with Dean while keeping their hands latched.

 

Dean quirked a brow, a challenging smile pulling at the corners of his lips. “Mr. Winchester, but you can call me Dean.” 

 

Chuck glanced back and forth between the two then let out a noise of nervousness. “W-well… I’m-I’m just… gonna,” he pointed behind him with his thumbs, “yeah…” He shuffled away. 

 

Castiel watched him leave, only then noticing he was still gripping Dean’s hand. “I guess that’s the end of my tour. It’s a shame, there was still places that I had to see…” Castiel commented as he disconnected their hands.

 

“Well where were you needing to see?” Dean asked, turning back to the tables of little kids eating their lunches. Castiel followed his lead and also turned. 

 

“Not many.. Just the kindergarten hall and the playground,” Castiel hummed in answer, clasping his hands leisurely behind his back. Dean let out another chuckle, causing Castiel to turn to him with brows creased in question. “What? Are those places really that entertaining?”

 

Dean waved a hand dismissively. “Haha, not that. I could take you to both places without having to go out of my way at all,” he answered, “If you don’t mind, I could help finish your tour.”

 

“Oh… well, as long as I’m not taking you away from your job…” Castiel stared down at his feet as he scuffed his toe on the floor.

 

_ Wow that is adorable... Hold up… did I just call a grown ass man adorable? Jesus, I’m going to have my hands full with this one… _

 

“It’s no problem. The jerks in charge elected  _ me _ to have Recess Duty™ all year, so I’ll be going there with the tikes when they’re done eating. Then there’s the fact that I’m a kindergarten teacher, going there after recess.” Dean explained, ignoring his exasperated thoughts.

 

A little smile spread on Castiel’s face and Dean had another little mental breakdown.  _ Shit… Yeah I’m way over my head with this one... That fucking smile… _

 

“Thank you, Dean. I really appreciate it.” 

 

Dean went to make another comment, but noticed that it was time for cleanup and stifled himself. Instead, he asked for Castiel to join him in shepherding the children. Castiel gladly accepted.

 

***

 

After finally getting the kids out to the playground, Dean and Castiel were awarded some time to themselves.

 

The two walked the border of the play area as they chatted. Their talk mostly consisted of Dean explaining what the school was like and Castiel completely engulfed in what Dean had to say, giving his own little comments and concerns here and there. 

 

_ I swear to god if this cute little shit quirks his head in confusion again I’m gonna lose it… Fuck I just called him a ‘cute little shit’... _

 

Despite his internal ranting, Dean made another joke about never going into the janitor’s closet in the third grade hallway due to a stain that he’s “98% certain that it’s evidence of the janitor being a murderer.” This made Castiel actually break out in laughter.

 

_ It’s official, that is the most amazing laugh ever… Note to self: make Cas laugh as much as possible… _

 

It was at that time that one of the kids ran up to the two men. “Bean!” the little girl called. Dean crouched down so that he could be more level with the young one. “Heyya Haley, what’s up?” he greeted. 

 

“The boys won’t let me join their game of cops and robbers,” Haley whined, jutting out her small little bottom lip.

 

“Well why don’t you tell them that Mr. Winchester said that if they don’t let everyone play equally then they will all be considered robbers and be locked up in detention for not being fair,” Dean told her, giving her a reassuring wink before shooing her away. A smile split little Haley’s face and she ran off to play with the others. Dean stood and watched her go.

 

“Bean?” Castiel finally spoke up, not having wanted to interrupt. Dean chuckled and scratched the back of his head. 

 

“Yeah, I let them call me by my first name since ‘Winchester’ is a bit of a mouth full. Some of the littler ones tend to call me ‘Bean’ not ‘Dean’. One of the reasons I call them my little bean sprouts,” he explained, continuing their stroll down the path that circled the playground.

 

“That is adorable,” Castiel admitted.  _ Wait, did he just call me adorable or the kids? _

 

“Um, thanks?” was all Dean could think of saying.

 

With that, the two lapped into a comfortable silence, continuing to make laps around the playground. They occasionally made small talk here and there until it was time to go back inside.

 

Getting the kids rounded up and back inside proved to more of a hassle and Dean found himself thankful that Castiel was there to help him with the rambunctious crowd. The two handed off the kids to their own teachers a class at a time then headed over to Dean’s room with his own kids.

 

The two lead the line shoulder to shoulder as Dean told Cas about the artworks the kids made that hung every yard down the hall. He then informed of whose classroom was who’s while his own students filed into theirs.

 

“Thank you for showing me around and keeping me company,” Castiel said politely, offering his hand for Dean to shake one more time. 

 

“It was nothing,” Dean dismissed, accepting the hand. 

 

After a few moments of intense eye contact, Dean cleared his throat, letting go of the other man’s hand. “I, um, should be getting to my class…”

 

“Yes, right. I’ll-I’ll get going, gotta get things settled in my new room...see you around?” Cas stumbled, shuffling a step back to leave. If Dean wasn’t so heavily focused on Cas’s baby blue eyes, he may have noticed the hint of hope laced in Castiel’s question.

 

“See ya around,” Dean confirmed with a little grin before heading into his room.

 

For the rest of the day, Dean couldn’t get the new teacher -his amazing blue eyes, his crazily kissable mouth, his knee weakening laugh, his adorable head tilt- out of his mind.

 


	2. 2. Not-so-horrible Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas is in no way a morning person and Dean has to try and figure out a way to survive him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m gonna really be fluffin this shz out. So far, I’ve broken it down to four chapters and an epilogue. Also, the turn out for the first chapter made me super happy and motivated to want to write more :D Keep it up and I might even be able to finish this and work on a few more Destiel goodness by December (low balling cause I don't trust my motivation's mood swings), maybe even before! Let’s just say that I’ve never gotten such a great response so fast on one of my stories and it has made me super duper happy.

 

The next morning, as Dean entered the teacher’s break room, he was greeted by a messy dark haired figure crouched in a chair at the small round table, back to the door.

 

“Not much of a morning person I presume?” He asked, making his way over to the coffee pot.

 

Castiel just groaned from his spot at the table, cheek in his hand and eyes closed.

 

“Coffee?” Dean offered.

 

“Add three sugars and a dab of honey, please?” Cas mumbled, letting his head fall to rest on his arms.

 

Dean just chuckled before brewing both him and Castiel a mug of coffee.

 

Once they were done, he added the three sugars and honey before he lightly sat Cas’s mug in front of him. Castiel raised his head just enough to lay his chin on his left arm, his right arm unfolding and taking ahold of his mug. “Thank you,” he mumbled, sending a tired and thankful smile Dean’s way.

 

Dean hid his goofy smile behind the rim of his own mug, “no problem, Cas.”

 

The two of them sat in a comfortable silence as they nursed their drinks, Dean scrolling through something on his phone while Castiel just tried to stay awake.

 

“Wait…” Cas finally spoke up, lowering his cup from his mouth, “what did you call me?”

 

Dean paused, mug stopping halfway on its journey to his lips, trying to think back to what he said. He let out a chuckle. “That took you a little while, you really _are_ out of it… Was that the first time I called you Cas?”

 

“I do believe so. I don’t remember anyone ever calling me by that.”

 

“What?” Dean drawn out the ‘a’ in mocking disbelief, “With a name like ‘Castiel’ I would think you’d have nicknames out the whazoo.”

 

“No, not really. I know a few people who call me ‘Cassie’ but I’d rather them not,” Castiel explained before taking another drink.

 

Dean gave an understanding hum as he took another sip of his coffee. Not long after, more teachers started filing in and beginning their day. Dean left to his own classroom after bidding a few of the others a ‘good morning’ and Cas a ‘have a good day’.

 

* * *

 

The following day saw Dean the first one in the teacher's lounge. He stood, leaning idly against the counter as he nursed his usual mug of coffee.

 

The door opened and Dean glanced up to see who had entered, only to nearly choke on his coffee and break out into a coughing fit at the sight; setting his coffee down so as not spill it.

 

Castiel practically stumbled into the room, hair sticking out in every direction, navy blue tie backwards _and_ crooked, clothes rumpled, and eyes squinting like the florescent lights offended him. Dean wondered briefly how he could see with his eyes so nearly closed the way they were.

 

“Well,” Dean cleared his throat, “it, uh, looks like _someone_ had an eventful evening last night,” he teased, going over and fixing Castiel’s tie without thinking. He didn’t catch himself until he was in the middle of straightening Castiel’s jacket.

 

“I don’t understand. I was unaware of any notable events that have happened,” Castiel mumbled, swaying slightly and his eyes now completely shut. “Had it been on the news? I was unable to watch any of it this morning,” he added as an afterthought.

 

Dean chuckled, only hesitating for a moment before reaching up to fix Castiel’s mess of hair the best he could. “No, nothing happened… I just meant… nevermind,” Dean stepped back enough to assess his work, “there, feathers officially unruffled,” he finalized, fists on his hips.

 

A small, tired smile graced Castiel’s lips as he finally opened his eyes back up. “Thank you, Dean, though I don’t have any feathers,” he mumbled.

 

Dean’s lips twitched into his own smile and he fought back the blush that threatened to spread over his freckled cheeks. _Damn, that’s the best one yet. I could just kiss that smile right off of him,_ his thoughts noted as his mouth said, “It’s no problem. Late night, I’m guessing?”

 

With a sigh, Castiel shuffled over to the small round table to take a seat. “Very. A brother -more like a bother- of mine graced me with a surprised visit and I was unable to work on, let alone finish, my lesson planning for the rest of this week,” he explained as Dean made his coffee for him.

 

Dean just chuckled as he set Castiel’s mug in front of him. Thus earning another tired yet thankful smile that he was able to reciprocate this time.

 

“A brother, huh? I got a younger one myself. Real proud of my little Sammy,” Dean started conversationally.

 

“Yes, his name is Gabriel. He is one of my older brothers. I, myself, am the second youngest. Older only to my younger brother Samandriel, Alfie for short,” Castiel explained, “I would like to hear about your ‘little Sammy’ if you’d like to indulge.”

 

Dean couldn’t help give a little laugh at Castiel’s air quotes.

 

“Alrighty then. So Sammy…”

 

* * *

 

Once Friday night rolled around, Dean could be found at the local bar, Roadhouse.

 

“Yoo who~ Dean~!” the redheaded bartender chuckled, waving a hand in front of the teacher. He flinched away and blinked a few times to get himself back into focus. “Welcome back to the present El Deano,” she continued when Dean moved his attention back to her.

 

“Sorry, Charlie. Guess I spaced out for a little while there,” he apologized, rolling his glass back and forth between his palms.

 

A low laugh sounded from Dean’s right. “I’d say! You were just staring into space with a blank look on your face for the past ten minutes,” the scruffy man added before taking a drink from his own glass.

 

Dean gave a little huffed laugh, “there’s no way it was _that_ long.”

 

“Actually, Benny’s right. You were startin’ to worry me, dude,” Charlie admitted as she wiped down the bar to Dean’s left. “What’s got ya so out of sorts, anyways? Wait...” she froze mid swipe, an evil smile spreading to split her face, “you met someone didn’t you?” The redhead added an eyebrow wiggle to emphasize her point.

 

That sure did catch Benny’s attention. He turned towards his friend, placing an elbow on the bar to hold his head. An invitation for Dean to spill the beans.

 

“Wha-! I--It’s not-- he’s just a coworker!” Dean choked out, stopping himself from spilling any more info by chugging down the rest of his drink.

 

Charlie let out a high pitched squee (which she had previously dubbed her “fangirl squeal”). Benny just sighed, “I know it’s a good song, brother, but you don’t gotta follow it’s example.”

 

Dean elbowed his friend beside him as he glared at Charlie. “It’s not like that. Cas is just… he’s… he’s just a potential friend that happens to be _really_ attractive, _alright_!!”

 

The two friends didn’t look impressed, but let it go. Dean let out a relieved breath and motioned to Jo, the other bartender, for a refill. The blonde did so, but cut him off on the one after so that he was still able to get home.

 

That night, his drunken dreams were filled with bottomless baby blues and soft black locks.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... so I've decided to try and post a chapter every Sunday. Key word TRY. Who knows what'll happen... I just know it shouldn't be TOO long between each chapter since I will only be posting chapters when I'm half way through the next one and I have this entire thing outlined and planned out. (being cautious so I don't write myself into a corner like I always do lol)
> 
> Also, I feel I should tell all yins that the ***'s mean a change in time while still the same day, whereas the horizontal lines mean a change in days


	3. 3. A sweetening of the times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean finds out Cas will be around way more often and decides to make their time together a little bit sweeter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: I text like a grandma, so when I tried doing text talk I completely winged it... Cause let's be honest, Charlie would send the most hard to read shortened texts...

Mondays. Dean  _ hates _ mondays. He wasn’t even hung over or anything, but man were these kids loud when they played. It should be illegal for voices to be able to go to such a high pitch. 

 

One of the boys missed the basket and another one from the other team ran to catch the ball. Only for the kid to end up bouncing it off into the playground when he went to dribble.

 

“He really needs to work on his ball handling…” 

 

Dean almost spit out his coffee, not expecting the sultry voice to sneak up behind him. “C-Cas h-heyya man, you, uh, you startled me,” he sputtered. 

 

The fellow teacher just chuckled under his breath.  _ There’s that wonderful sound… do it again… _ “Hello, Dean. I didn’t mean to startle you.” 

 

Dean gave a reassuring grin before lifting his cup to take another drink. “No problem, Cas. Just a little burnt tongue from the coffee, nothin’ I can’t handle.”

 

“Did you try blowing?”

 

Choking, on his coffee, yet again.  _ Is this gonna become a habit? _ “W-What?!” he coughed.

 

“The coffee, did you try blowing on it? I’ve heard that it helps cool down food and beverages before consumption,” Castiel explained, giving his normal ( _ and admittingly adorable)  _ head tilt in confusion.

 

“U-uh-” -cough- “oh… right. Yeah. Blowing on the coffee. Right,” Dean managed, wiping his mouth with his forearm. “So…” it took a moment of fishing around to come up with a subject change, “why, uh, why are you out here? I-I mean it’s not a problem you’re here- I- I do like your company, I mean the company…”  _ You're floundering, Winchester! Abort! Abort! _

 

Cas’s chuckling brought Dean’s inner panic to a screeching halt. “It’s  _ fine _ , Dean. I just found that we can volunteer to do ‘recess duty’ and I did,” Cas explained.  _ Goddamn air quotes being goddamn dorky. Quit being cute, I’m trying to stay cool here. _

 

“Oh? That’s pretty cool. Glad  _ someone  _ is nice enough to help me out with all these munchkins.”  _ Mental note: look into which days Cas is volunteering _ .

 

And he did just that. Once he got time to himself, he searched through all the papers on his desk to find the schedule. 

 

Turns out Castiel had volunteered for every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the rest of the year. Dean had to sit back and let it sink in; that was a lot of days to volunteer when you're still a new teacher to the school. 

 

_ I should do something to thank him whenever he volunteers… But what?  _ He thought to himself. He might need an outsider's opinion on this. 

 

**To: Charles**

**_Hey… so what's a nice thing to do for someone who volunteers recess duty for a shit ton of days?_ **

 

Dean knew she had the day off, so it wouldn't be long before she would reply. 

 

**From: Charles**

**_TREATS! bruh, cookies r the shz 4 evry1!_ **

**_Or brownies!_ **

**_Just make em the good shz_ **

 

**To: Charles**

**_I'm serious Charlie, what should I do?_ **

 

**From: Charles**

**_So m I gramps txtr_ **

**_Make em some snacks_ **

**_Snacks r gr8 whn u r standin around_ ** **_doin nothin_ **

 

**To: Charles**

**_Oh, alright. Thanks Charlie_ **

**_And I ain't a grandpa_ **

 

The conversation only lasted a few minutes before Dean gathered his stuff and headed home.  _ Mental note #2: Grab groceries and borrow mom's recipe book.  _

 

***

 

It was another hour or so before Dean made it to the store for ingredients.  _ How the hell am I supposed to make a choice when there's a whole freaking  _ **_aisle_ ** _ of this shit...  _

 

Trying to choose what to make was proving to be a real hassle. Should he make brownies? Cookies? Cupcakes? A pie would be too much, right? Though, it kinda sucked not being able to just go with a good pie. 

 

It was while he was standing there, intensely staring at the shelves full of different baking goods, when two younger women entered the aisle. One had dark skin with bouncy curls, full lips, and wore a leather jacket, while the other had a more lithe form with wavy dark hair and adorned blue scrubs. Both were a good decade younger than Dean, so he paid no mind to their obvious heated glances.

 

When the one in leather stepped closer to grab a red velvet cake mix, Dean finally thought  _ to hell with it _ and asked for advice. “Alright, I gotta ask. Do you have any tips on what to get a coworker as a thank you for helping out? There’s too much of a variety for me to narrow anything down.”

 

The woman blinked at him a few times in surprise before her look turned on a thoughtful tone. “Honestly, that’s not really in my area of expertise either. What do you think, Carmen?” She turned to the other woman. 

 

Carmen gave a little hum of thought before answering. “You said it was a thank you for a favor or something, right? Well usually I would use cupcakes, but seeing how it’s a coworker, doing cookies would result in easier traveling and they would last longer.”

 

Now  _ that _ Dean could do. There were only a handful of cookie kinds so he could just grab a random one that he usually eats and not have to worry about anything. He made sure to treat them to a sexy smirk as he gave them his thanks and grabbed a box of sugar cookies. It was the least he could do to repay them for the very helpful tips.

 

* * *

 

Baking turned out to be harder than it looked when he tried to make the cookies the next night. Well, Dean could bake with no trouble, but the universe was against him that day. 

 

First the eggs decided to do a nose dive right between his fingers and to the floor. Then the butter was being difficult and melted way more than it should, ending with a buttery puddle in his microwave. The bag of mix also caused trouble. Being stubborn, it didn't let him open it until he put in too much effort and covered everything with the powder. Thank whoever’s listening that he had gotten two boxes just in case.  Then, of course, he bent one of his last good mixing spoons while finishing up the dough. He's not even gonna mention how the first batch almost caught his house on fire. 

 

Sam is to never know of any of this.

* * *

 

Dean should've seen the next morning's incident coming. Having left the cookie sheets in the still-warm oven overnight to keep them warm and fresh, he had to peel them off and move them to a container.

 

Damn freaking tin foil being freaking thin and sharp. Papercuts Dean was used to, he was a teacher for Christ sake, but  _ tin foil cuts _ !? How did he even manage that!?  

 

After twenty minutes of searching, all he could find was the kiddy band aids that his students have given to him over the years. 

 

Having to go to work with flowery princess bandages wrapped around his fingers was embarrassing, but it was all he had left to keep from getting blood on his paperwork. 

 

***

 

Aaaand of course, as per every morning so far, Cas was the only one in the teacher's lounge. 

 

The first grade teacher stared at Dean's hands from the time he set down Cas’s mug, till he sat down after making his own coffee. 

 

“Nice flowers. Did you run out of butterflies?” Cas managed after drinking half his coffee, face as blank as always. 

 

“At least I'm conscious in the mornings,” Dean ricocheted without skipping a beat. 

 

Cas gave a little huff that could pass as a laugh before mumbling a “touche” into his cup. 

 

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Dean took out a little round container. Popping it open, he took a cookie and bit into it. 

 

Cookie still hanging from his mouth, he slid the container closer to his coworker. Cas accepted the offer and took one of the smaller ones. 

 

“Hmm, sugar cookies?” He guessed before taking a bite himself. 

 

“Thought it was a safe way to go. Don't know if anyone is allergic to nuts or chocolate,” Dean explained his choice around a bite of cookie. 

 

“No worries from me. I have no allergies. In fact, my favorite kind of sweets are peanut butter honey cookies.”

 

_ Mental note #3: make peanut butter honey cookies often… But not too often to be obvious, maybe make some brownies or something…  _

 

They found themselves in another bout of silence for a few more minutes before they had to continue with their day.

 

* * *

 

Dean decided to start bringing randomly chosen sweets (he swears it's just a coincidence he brings peanut butter honey cookies more often than anything else) every Friday. That way, whatever he had left over he could give away at the Roadhouse. Charlie always loved when that happened. 

 

Spending the time and money to bake all these sweets was always worth the smiles (and the rare but heavenly moans of satisfaction) that he got from Castiel. Let's just say, the first time he brought in mom's pumpkin cookie recipe and got the first and most delicious moan from Cas, Dean had to take a longer bathroom break than normal… 

 

And that's how things went for the next couple of months. Mondays consisted of trying to keep each other awake, which lead to them talking about some of the most random things. Cas was full of odd facts. Wednesday was when they discussed what he should bring that week, and then Friday was treat day. 

 

Dean ended up buying Charlie a new video game she'd been wanting as a thank you. He wouldn't have gotten as close to Cas as fast as he has if she hadn't helped out way back when. 

 

The only problem was that he had no idea how to ask Cas to hang out together after school -- _ if it turns into a date, even better--  _ and valentine's day was coming up fast…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh I almost didn't make it lol. I'm a lil behind because I haven't gotten half way through the next chapter before posting this one like I planned, so be warned that the next one might be a lil late…


	4. The card

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Valentines day, and kids can make a ridiculous amount of mess. Not to mention that they like meddling in other's affairs...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry that it’s been so long since I've updated. School, Irma, bowling, and just plain Ole life has been exhausting and I've had no motivation to write lately. To make up for the wait, I’m also going to be posting one (or two, haven’t decided to do the other one too, just yet) AU! One shot. Hope you enjoy both this chapter (which is the last one other than a real short epilogue) and the one shot (if you check it out lol).

The two teachers sat in the lounge, surrounded by rainbow craft supplies.

 

Cas sat Indian style on the floor, small bins surrounded him and a large bin filled with foam stickers sat in his lap. Dean was at the round table which was currently covered in a rainbow of colored paper. There was a stack of paper for each color and a bin for each sized heart that Dean cut.

 

“How's the categorizing goin’?” Dean chuckled at the man below him.

 

“I don't know, how's the papercuts?” Cas grumbled, never taking his eyes off the two stickers he was trying to separate.

 

Dean just gave a little snort. “That bad, eh? What's the matter?”

 

Cas heaved a sigh, lowering the stickers as he turned to look up at Dean. “Half the papers have peeled off and are getting stuck to ones that still have their papers. And some even have their papers out of place, so even though they still have paper, they stick!” He huffed in annoyance before continuing, “remind me again why we got to use these.”

 

“Cause the kids like the squishiness and it’s still _way_ better than having to deal with even _more_ glue,” Dean explained, reaching down and ruffling Cas’s forever-mused hair. _Anything to have a reason to feel the not-so-surprisingly soft locks._

 

The other man just pouted, shoving a blue flower sticker in the bin for blue. “I’ve told you before, I shall never buy liquid glue ever again. It took me a week to try and get it all off the desks after _that_ incident.”

 

Dean broke out in laughter, throwing his head back, “And I remind you, I will never let you live it down.” He sent an evil smirk Cas’s way. Said teacher replied with a pouty glare over his shoulder.

 

 _His pout is so kissable… How could I not want to make him to do it more often?_ Dean chuckled to himself in his head.

 

It was another half hour before Dean finished his cutting. “Needin’ a little help down there?” he asked, the snark dripping from his voice.

 

“Shut your mouth and come help me,” Cas grumbled, not even looking away from the stickers.

 

Dean situated himself across from him and motioned for the bucket to be put in between them. Castiel had already gotten through half of it, so it didn't take long for them to finish.

 

***

 

The class was bustling with energy as all the little kids decorated cards.

 

Dean made his way through the tables, stopping to help and encourage the students here and there.

 

He stopped at one of the tables that sat to the right back of the room. “Heyya, Audrie. You got a really glittery card there, don't cha. Who you making it for?” He asked, crouching down beside her so he wasn't towering.

 

“For my teddy! He's been really sad. Doc said it's _lolipop_ disease!” She replied as she dug her glitter covered hand into a little bin for a pink butterfly sticker.

 

“Aw, I'm sorry to hear that, I hope he feels better soon.” Dean patted her on the shoulder, having learned to just go with things.

 

“Who are you going to make a card for, Mr. Dean?” another kid at the table asked.

 

Before he could answer with his denial of making one at all, he was interrupted. Benny spoke up with a “it's Mr. Novak, _right_ ? Cause you _like_ him, _right_ ?” With the most smug grin Dean has ever seen on a child's face. _Children should not be able to be so scary and intimidating at times…_

 

“I-I’m not-I wasn't going to-I mean-I…” Dean stammered, his face heating up.

 

“Yeah! You should make him a card!” A little boy said.

 

“He'll love you forever and ever because of it!” Another girl cheered.

 

As Dean stumbled through protests and the kids all cheered encouragement, they ganged up on him, dragging and pushing him until he plopped down in one of the empty seats at the middle table. In the process of moving their teacher, one of them set up a light blue card cut in the shape of a heart and a few colored markers.

 

They shoved a marker in his hand and urged him to write something. “I, uh… what should I write?” He asked, still trying to process what was going on.

 

“How about… “Dear Mr. Novak. I like you. Be my Valentine,” a boy said.

 

“ _Please_ be my Valentine! We want to make a good impression on him!” A girl piped up.

 

Dean opened the card and wrote, “Dear Cas, how would you feel about a date?” in dark blue marker.

 

“Put some stickers!” A boy stuck a few miscellaneous stickers around the note.

 

“Don't forget the hearts! You gotta show how much you love him!” Three kids simultaneously smothered the paper with their purple glue sticks, followed by hearts of every size and color.

 

“You need to add more glitter~!” Which was followed by the dumping of almost an entire bottle of glitter that almost all stayed due to the copious amounts of glue. That was able to bring Dean back to reality.

 

“Woah~! Woah! Alright, there! I think that’ll do, Mr. Novak is a simple man, let’s not overwhelm him, okay?” He talked the toddlers down before they made even more of a mess on his account. “We’ll just keep it like this,” he continued as he closed the card and wrote ‘Castiel Novak’ on the cover.

 

“Now how about we get back to decorating you guys’ own cards, huh?”

 

***

 

With two kids on each arm and two pushing at his rear, Dean got dragged over to the teacher standing at the corner of the playground. Another student ran ahead of the group, grabbing Mr. Novak’s attention. When he turned, Dean noticed that Cas had glitter glue all over his badly tied tie along with a large and pink flower sticker stuck to his cheek.

 

“Nice decorating there, princess.” Dean couldn’t help it, honest. It just came out like a reflex.

 

“Why thank you. Going by the state of your hair, I am to guess you were just working in the unicorn stables,” Castiel responded without skipping a beat, reaching up and shaking some glitter out of Dean’s own hair to prove his point.

 

 _Wait. Did he just call me a stable boy? Oh ho so we’re going_ there _._

 

Before Dean could retort, he was interrupted by a pull on his sleeve. “The card,” the little girl reminded in a stage whispered.

 

All of Dean’s earlier nervous came flooding back despite the ease he had just been at. He shakily handed the large and obnoxiously decorated card over to Cas before he had any sort of chance to avoid it.

 

To Dean’s amazement, a small smile spread across Castiel’s face. Cas gave him a pointed look before turning the card vertical, causing a handful of excess glitter to drift out of the paper. With an endearing look towards his fellow teacher, he carefully opens and reads the card.

 

Before he could say anything, he also received a tug on his shirt. “Don’t you have a card for Mr. Winchester? Don’t you like him back?” the boy asked, huge puppy dog eyes included.

 

Dean tried to mouth to Cas that it was fine, even though he had already started to feel the dread of rejection pulling at his chest. Castiel only cleared his throat. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he stuttered out an, “w-well actually…” before pulling out a small, plain white envelope.

 

Castiel didn’t make eye contact even once while Dean accepted and opened the letter to read.

 

 _“I like other food besides cookies. Want to get dinner with me some time? Maybe tonight at 7?”_ Dean heard Castiel’s voice read the words in his head. His entire face erupted into red, nodding a yes to the invitation. A smile that could only be described as “shit eating” split Castiel’s face. Dean could only give him a wobbly, yet giddy, grin in return.

 

“Ew, Mr. Bean and Mr. Novak are being all weird and smiley and gross now,” a boy spoke up, face scrunched.

 

“I think it’s cute~ The truest of true love~!” a girl argued before the students left their teachers alone to be all lovey and gross by themselves. The two teachers could only give each other crooked grins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...you might need to follow me if you want to be notified when I post the one shot (Which should be soon!!)... either that or just follow the link that I'll make sure to include in the epilogue.


	5. 5. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little rug rats are messy...

“I guess those messy unicorns are still at large.”

 

Dean is so startled by his sudden visitor, that he almost drops a half full jar of glitter. “Jeez, Cas. You trying to give me a heart attack?” he huffed, setting the jar safely down on the little counter of his classroom before turning to his fellow teacher. Said man could be found leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest casually. _There is no ‘casual’ when he emphasises his not-so-hidden muscles under those damn button ups that he wears 24/7. Does he even know what he’s doing to me and anybody else with working eyes and a working limbido?_

 

_Mental note #4: Investigate for an answer to previous question. Aka figure out more about Cas’s own limbido..._

 

Castiel just chuckled. “I assure you it was not my attention to stop your heart.” _Curse him and his oddly endearing formal way of talking._

 

“Well good news, my heart's still goin’ strong,” Dean laughed, taking a wet rag and trying to wipe down a table.

 

“Do you need help? I already finished cleaning my own room,” Cas offered. Dean just tossed a rag to Castiel in answer. Cas chuckled, wetting the rag and scrubbing the closest table to him.

 

Dean was the first one to break the silence. “So, uh… where do you wanna have dinner tonight?” He asked.

 

Cas gave a thoughtful hum as he folded his rag a different way. “I was thinking maybe at my place? I have ingredients and the means to make some chicken parmesan.”

 

Dean's mouth watered at the thought of a nicely done home cooked meal. “That sounds amazing,” he admitted, moving on to the next table just as Cas did the same. Turns out it was the last one and they ended up with just a short circle table between them.

 

It only took them a few moments for them to finish the last table. Dean took Castiel's rag and rinsed both of them out before laying them over the edge of the sink to dry.

 

“Red or white?”

 

Dean rose a brow at the random question. “What?”

 

“Red or white wine?” Cas reiterated, leaning against the small counter next to where Dean stood.

 

“I'm more of a whiskey guy, but I don't mind red wine,” Dean answered as he turned to lean against the counter alongside Cas.

 

“So if I'm gonna be goin to your place, it might be useful to know _where_ it is,” chuckled Dean before he grabbed a pen out of his back pocket. “Lemme grab ya a piece of-” Dean was cut off when, instead of just taking the pen, Cas grabbed his hand.

 

“No need to waste parchment,” was all he said before scribbling a phone number on his forearm just above his wrist followed by a kiss on his cheek.

 

“I better be heading home to thaw the chicken for dinner,” Cas paused at the door, “looking forward to hearing from you.”

 

Dean was left sputtering alone in his classroom, his face doing it's best impression of a strawberry.

 

_Mental note #5: Payback is in order. Tonight._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! I know it took a lil too long compared to what's here, but in my defense I posted two one shots for the waiting (Tension Relief: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378261 Halloween Special: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12587908 ). Now that I'm more in the mood to write, I'm going to try and write up another multi chapter story. (This time I'll finish before posting. I mean it. Really. ….maybe…)


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